


Boy on the train

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Human, Deaf Character, Deaf Raphael, Disability, Disabled Character, First Dates, M/M, awkward Simon, tiny bit flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: "Thank you so much!"His heart skipped a beat when the other's previous frown was replaced by a beaming smile. The boy nodded slightly and then pointed at the now vacant seat next to Simon, still without saying a word. It was a little weird that the guy didn't say anything but he had helped Simon and seemed like a nice person, so he answered with a nod of his own and kept on smiling.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A tiny idea I had on the train today :)

Simon didn’t expect the most handsome guy ever to come to his rescue when some drunk weirdo sat down next to him on the train, reeking of beer and things he didn't even want to think about, and almost smacked his elbow against the side of Simon's head. He felt increasingly uncomfortable while the man kept on gesturing sweepingly, talking in a loud voice to no one in particular. He couldn't even switch the seat because he had the one next to the window and would have to get past this guy somehow. There was no way he could concentrate on reading the text for his class any longer...

Simon looked up when the man suddenly fell silent before babbling stuff like "What do you want?!" or "Stop staring at me, you weirdo!" and Simon noticed the boy standing next to their seats, glaring at the drunk and pointing towards the back of the train compartment in a silent "Get lost!" The drunk man only stared back and muttered a few insults but he actually got up after a while, obviously unsettled by the constant, almost unblinking glare directed at him. Simon breathed out a sigh of relief when the man was finally gone and smiled up at the other boy.

"Thank you so much!"

His heart skipped a beat when the other's previous frown was replaced by a beaming smile. The boy nodded slightly and then pointed at the now vacant seat next to Simon, still without saying a word. It was a little weird that the guy didn't say anything but he had helped Simon and seemed like a nice person, so he answered with a nod of his own and kept on smiling.

"Some people are really creepy and somehow this stuff always seems to happen to me," Simon started to chatter away to break the slightly awkward silence and halfway through the sentence the other boy looked at him again, his eyebrows drawing into a frown and head slightly tilted with a questioning expression. Simon started to wonder if maybe the guy didn't speak English and watched in confusion when the other raised his hand to point at his own ear, shaking his head. It took him a few seconds to catch up.

"Oh. You can't hear?" He asked and the boy nodded after watching his lips move. Okay, that did explain why the other hadn't said a word but he was obviously able to read lips.

"Ah, that's cool. Not...like...cool as in _it's a good thing you're deaf_ but cool like... _I don't mind_." He should not be allowed to talk to other people, seriously! His brain to mouth filter didn't even work properly on a good day and now he certainly insulted the boy who had a disability but still chose to intervene and help him out with this drunk guy. He was such an ass! To his surprise, the other boy didn't get up but his lips curled into an amused grin before he plucked the pen from Simon's hand and the notepad as well, flipping it to a new page.

**_I'm Raphael_ **

The other boy's - Raphael's! - handwriting was unexpectedly neat and some letters even looked slightly curly. _Just like his hair_ , Simon's useless brain supplied. He decided to ignore his own stupid comparison and snatch the pen back instead to scribble underneath the other's writing.

**_Hi, Raphael! I'm Simon. Nice to meet you and thanks again for the rescue :)_ **

Raphael frowned at him and then raised an eyebrow, pointing at the wonky smiley Simon had drawn at the end of his equally messy writing. Simon might have been a little bit embarrassed about the fact how extremely horrible his handwriting looked next to Raphael's...

 ** _I can read lips, you don't need to write everything down_** , Raphael noted and held the pen out of Simon's reach when he was about to take it back to write out his reply. Simon pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I thought it's only fair if you had to write everything down. Also, this way you don't have to stare at my stupid face the whole time," Simon said with a little shrug and reminded himself to keep his face directed at the other boy so he could read his lips. For some reason, the thought of Raphael staring at his mouth made him a tiny bit nervous - but not the uncomfortable kind of nervous.

 ** _I really don't mind staring at your stupid face_** , Raphael wrote with a smirk and Simon felt his cheeks heat up at the other's almost flirty expression.

They spent the rest of the sadly short ride getting to know a little about each other and when Simon had to get out at his stop - only two stops before Raphael's, so they didn't even live too far apart - he quickly scribbled down his phone number for the other. Not even five minutes after leaving the train, Simon's phone buzzed with a new text message.

**_Your handwriting is lousy, by the way  
_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like writing just a little bit more for this story, even though this is just Simon being awkward but what's new?

Simon was incredibly nervous when he stepped out of the bus and made his way towards the small café where he was supposed to meet Raphael in only a few minutes. It was just his luck that the bus had been a little too late so now he would barely make it in time.  _ It’s not a date _ , Simon reminded himself inwardly,  _ it’s just two friends meeting to spend some time together _ . Admittedly, said two friends had exchanged quite a few rather flirty sounding messages ever since they had met on the train a few weeks back. Sadly, they hadn’t seen each other again since that day, despite not living too far away from one another, but Simon had definitely enjoyed texting back and forth.

Not only had he been a little more confident in general talking to Raphael via messages but also because of the other’s disability and Simon felt kind of shitty for thinking that. Even if it was for the fact that he felt useless because he couldn’t understand the other boy properly - it seemed so unfair that Raphael would have to write down everything so Simon could understand him properly. He was honestly nervous about seeing the other face-to-face again in a few minutes, especially because of just that fact. 

Simon entered the café shortly after, heart in his throat and nervous tingling in his stomach. It didn’t take too long for him to spot Raphael in the small room where he was sat at a table in the corner near the window. The other boy was as gorgeous as he remembered - curly black hair, dark eyes, sharp features with plush lips and a chiselled jaw. Simon heartbeat stumbled a little when Raphael looked up and spotted him, full lips curling into a beaming smile that took his breath away.

He waved awkwardly, stepping up to the table and plopping down into the chair opposite of Raphael, almost whispering the “Hey” in greeting but it wasn’t like the volume of his voice made any difference for the other boy anyway. Raphael’s lips formed a silent “Hey” as well, that much Simon was capable of reading lips but he guessed that didn’t exactly count.

“I was really happy that you wanted to meet up with me. I mean, I  _ am _ really happy! Not past tense, I’m still happy about it,” Simon blurted out and almost facepalmed right afterwards because he always had to become frustratingly embarrassing in front of people he actually wanted to impress. Even though he had no idea what to impress Raphael with but talking nonsense definitely wasn’t it.

At least it seemed like the other boy was amused with his ridiculous behaviour rather than annoyed or regretting the whole decision to meet up here. Simon scratched the nape of his neck sheepishly, his cheeks heating up some more and he couldn’t help but duck his head. All of this was just a disaster waiting to happen. He didn’t even understand why this gorgeous boy was even remotely interested in spending time with him, even if it was certainly just in a very platonic context because  _ come on  _ as if someone like Raphael who was charming, incredibly beautiful and with a great sense of style would ever go for some blabbering nerd like Simon!

Simon’s depressing thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of warm fingers curling around his hand, causing his attention to shift back to the gorgeous boy in front of him who smiled at him with soft eyes and mouthed a silent “It’s okay” that was already enough for him to relax again and stop thinking himself into a freak-out over his own social ineptitude.

From then on it went a little easier, despite Simon feeling bad for Raphael having to type things into his phone in order for him to understand it but they still managed to get a nice conversation going after the initial awkwardness. Simon had already decided that Raphael smile was the most beautiful thing in the whole world and he loved to be the reason for it. 

He felt sad when it was finally time to say their goodbyes but smiled brightly when the other boy taught him how to spell “See you soon” in sign language - not just because of the underlying promise of another meeting but also because it felt nice to learn the tiniest piece or Raphael’s word, his language. Simon hoped it would only be one of many things he would learn to say with his quite clumsy movements and maybe one day he would be able to have a proper conversation with Raphael without having to use a phone to do so.

When Raphael gently grabbed the collar of his shirt and soft lips pressed against his cheek for a brief moment before they parted ways, Simon’s heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest and his cheeks felt hot while he watched the other boy walk away. He had told himself that this was just a meeting between two friends but he had never been gladder to apparently be wrong about something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if this is short and nothing much is going on: if I still managed to handle the disability badly, please tell me! This counts for all of my stories - if I handle something poorly, don't hesitate to point it out to me because it's never my intention to be offensive towards anyone.


End file.
